A stubborn draft horse at the county fair taught me to listen more

I was at the Clark County Fair last month, working on a big Percheron who just would not pick up his back foot. I tried all my usual tricks, talking soft, shifting my weight, even a little bump on his leg. Nothing. An old farrier I know, named Hank, was watching from the fence. He walked over and just said, 'He's not being bad, he's scared of the tractor noise.' I hadn't even noticed the tractor running hay bales nearby. We moved the horse twenty feet to a quieter spot, and he lifted that foot like a lamb. It was a small thing, but it hit me hard. I was so focused on the job in front of me that I missed the whole picture. Now I take a full minute to look and listen before I even touch a hoof. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where the answer wasn't about the horse's feet at all?

2 comments

2 Comments

patking16h ago

My old dog still hides from the vacuum after ten years.

sethmartinez13h ago

Wonder if that fear ever got worse as your dog got older. My neighbor's terrier started shaking at just the sight of the closet where they keep theirs, and he never used to do that. Does your dog react to other loud noises now, or is it just the vacuum cleaner that sets him off?